I didn't grow up celebrating Halloween and I don't particularly love it now. Carving pumpkins is messy and makes my hands sore. I think it all brings out my inner Grinch. However, my kids look forward to carving pumpkins every year and so we do it. For some reason, it isn't actually all about me.
This year we did a skull, a traditional face and a kitty cat.
I just cannot say how awestruck I am over your pumpkin carvings. I remember your last year's offering too - truly amazing. What type of cutting tools do you use (aside from your wonderful artistic abilities!)?
Thanks, everyone. Tricia, we just have one of those plastic carving sets with various saws and a scooper. I think we got it at Wal-Mart several years ago.
Did you save the seeds? It's difficult to turn your back on some delicious fresh roasted punkin seeds, although after all that carving you maybe didn't want to bother (or have the time) with the cleaning and baking.
Hmmm...I'm thinking your plastic walmart tools do definitely outrank my little paring knife that I used last year - it was a rather tedious process, I must say. Perhaps I should "invest" in some proper pumpkin tools!
Over the past few days, Papa Possum has tried to teach the ways of righteous Southern cookery to the masses. He deals with cornbread, grits and biscuits and threatens much smiting upon any poor soul who uses sugar in any of the aforementioned items.
Of course, I like sweet cornbread and one of my favorite biscuit recipes has a teaspoon of sugar in it, but being a gentleman Terry has promised not to smite me, should we get to meet again.
No, but you can be assured I will try mightily to rescue you from your affliction!!
And don't get me started on cheese curls again...
;)
posted by Terry Oglesby at October 27, 2006 02:31 PM
I never said I liked cheese puffs better. I just didn't eat any processed, air-inflated cheese snacks enough to realize there were two different kinds. You are certainly correct as to which kind of cheesy snack food is the superior variety.
So you are in Nashville for the weekend and don't know what to do?
How about going to the GodMen conference? "At the daylong GodMen event downtown Saturday, men will be able to cuss, smoke cigars, watch videos of football pileups and car crashes, listen to specially composed Christian rock songs such as "Testosterone High" and attend workshops on how to fight pornography addiction."
Is it just me or does going to a conference to help you get back to your manly roots seem just a tad Oprah-fied?
As for my family, husband and all, I'm afraid we'll have to miss the spectacle event. We have tickets to the symphony.
Having needed something to read when I was huge and pregnant and something to read while nursing and sitting around, I recently finished House Thinking by Winifred Gallagher. The author takes a look at houses, room by room (and second houses and the location of the house) and discusses what works, what doesn't, what we collectively want in a house, and why.
The book is neither completely fluffy nor a difficult read. It suited my need for light, but interesting, reading quite well. The discussions of various rooms and the psychology behind why we look for certain things in different areas of a house were helpful to me, especially as I am currently trying to reimagine my own house and figure out a way to rework the living spaces we have to fit our family.
When we bought our house we had one child and were expecting our second. While I didn't expect to stop with two children, I never really considered what adding two more children would do to the feel of our cozy, comfortable 1850 square foot, 3 bedroom house. Unsurprisingly, we feel cramped. However, after spending several months looking at houses this summer, knowing that there were certain things we really did not want to give up in a house -- something old, no farther from my husband's job than we are now and not requiring us to take on a mortgage much bigger than our current one, we realized that there really wasn't much of anything out there for us. Everyone else's house has increased in value at about the same rate as ours and even moving to a much less desireable neighborhood and a fixer-upper without amenties like a kitchen would not actually fit all our requirements, because sellers are convinced that they can still garner high prices for houses even if those houses have no kitchen, plumbing that drains into the crawl space, and holes in the roof.
Needless to say, for at least the present, we'll be staying where we are. But we have realized that we need to figure out a way to live better in the space we have. We have two front rooms that do not get used nearly as much as they should and we tend to live in the kitchen and tiny morning room behind it, ignoring most of the living room space taken up by the two front rooms.
Reading House Thinking really has gotten me thinking about how to make changes to our home to make rooms we've been passing through more inviting. Places we want to linger.
Not that any of this will get me another bedroom, but perhaps that will come eventually after we figure out how to use the downstairs better. Afterall, The Baby isn't planning to sleep in his own room for quite some time yet.
I'll have to check that one out. Thanks.
We deliberately put our only TV in the living room, thus ensuring that living room will at least be used at night. If we put it in the breakfast room, we would never leave this space!
But here are some helpful suggestions. One of my favorites? "Ignore celebrities, except when they are doing what they are celebrated for doing: acting, playing football et cetera. Skill does not confer moral, political or intellectual discrimination...If a celebrity is not celebrated for doing anything but being a celebrity, smile politely but pay no notice."
Watch our language. Is there really much difference between a six-year-old in a fright-wig and his father's waders shouting 'I'm the Mighty Wurgle-Burgle-Urgley-Goo' and an ostensible grown-up demanding to be called 'Tony Blair's Respect Tsar'?
Yesterday I made my first solo venture out of the house with all the kidlets. Where would one go for such a momentous occasion? Home Depot. I didn't need a bunch of things and there is very little that the kids want me to buy there, so it seemed like a decent place to test the waters. All went well, but I sure wish they offered to carry out my bags like my favorite grocery store does.
When we all pile out of the car these days, I sense somewhere in the middle of it all that I am the driver of a clown car. People keep coming out long after you expect them to stop.
For the most part, people are very nice to me and my horde (whether a horde of three or four) when we do go out of the house. A lady let me go in front of her in line. A man offered to put my cart in the cart return for me. It may mean I look tired and desperate, but I take the help. Once in a while, I garner looks of sympathy and comments about having my hands full, but usually they are well meaning and often accompanied by a statement that the speaker had 4 or more kids themselves and they remember the strategic planning required to leave home with them all and return with the same number.
I'm glad therefore that I live where I do. Most people in Tennessee, I dare say do not, any longer, have large families with four or more children, but very few seem to think it shocking. Apparently some places this isn't such an acceptable lifestyle choice.
CLown car is the perfect description. I often feel that way.
Four or more children is shocking where I live too. Most people have two and an equal number have three as have one. I know one person with four. I can't think of a single person I know personally who has more than four.
Four does seem to be the break point. Admittedly I only had three children for nine minutes, but when I have three or fewer in tow we are somewhat anonymous. Throw in number four, then I get the comments. Of course I have the added bonus of having twins that don't even look related to each other.
In the south, at least in the suburban south, three or more kids is the new trend. It does not seem as much a "religion" thing (although I'm sure that plays into it) as a cultural trend. My daughter's godparents have both of their daughters currently expecting babies 3 and 4 and neither of them are influenced by religious reasons & the only other cousin in our family (married to a wealthy businessman in SC) has four kids and wants more - and they don't attend church at all. It just seems to be the new trend in this part of the country. I have a good friend who started the "only two kids" club with the only other mother in her neighborhood with two kids and she called me last week to say that she is now the lone member of the club.
In our married with kids Sunday school class, my husband and I are literally the only couple with two kids that are "done". There are as many families with four or five as there are with three - and there are numerous families with three or more under the age of 5 - families that are planning to just keep having children and that I expect will be quite large.
It's weird to think that there are places where this is unusual. It appears that family size in this country is increasing dramatically.
Well, congratulations on a successful outing! I get the "you've got your hands full" all the time with just my two, and as you say, it's all well-meaning and doesn't bother me a bit.
I enjoyed that article too! Thanks for the link =]
This in no way means that I am, at this point less than two weeks post-partum, concerning myself with weight loss or tummy-size. I'll wait at least another couple of weeks before I start looking at the fat rolls and crying.
It's hard to believe it has been over a week since the baby was born. He's fitting in well, sleeping through all the chaos, and sleeping well at night snuggled next to me. Saturday night he actually slept from 10:30 to 4:30 and then to make up for it, nursed for the next hour and a half. But still, I really can't complain about his sleeping habits at this point.
We've been well taken care of with meals brought by almost daily by people from church. It will very strange when I finally have to start cooking regularly again. We've also been fortunate that Justin's law firm offers him some paternity leave. He was at home this whole past week, which was lovely. If only someone would pay him to stay home full time.
But all this is starting to come to an end. Justin is going back to work, eventually people are going to stop bringing me food, and we're going to start school back up for the kidlets. I'm a bit intimidated by handling everything on my own, but I know I can. I've already been alone with all four for a couple of hours when Justin went to some boring lawyer dinner last week. The real question is when I'll ever be brave enough to leave home with everyone in tow.
You can do it. Just make sure everybody is fed, pottied/clean diaper and is well rested, which is one very tiny window each day. Then limit yourself to one, maybe two errands. Oh, and give the elder two some kind of "helpful" task. Carrying a bag, pushing the cart, whatever. It makes them feel important and useful. I highly recommend the graco duo-glider stroller. It is highly manoeuvrable and is not too bad to tote around.
Ah, Jordana, what an interesting chapter you have begun. I think of you often these days as you begin to look toward the "new normal." My confidence in your strength and wisdom for this endeavor is exceeded only by my admiration and good wishes.
You sound so sweet and peaceful. And kudos for you to be letting little Peter sleep with you. Don't you rest better having him snuggled next to you? I always loved that.
And about that schooling....take it easy. It'll all get done, but you and the little one are the most important now.
You can do it! You just might have to cut back on painting your house, landscaping, reupholstering furniture- that sort of thing. You amaze me.
BTW, we got some friends to help with the scraping, taping, etc., and got the office painted this past weekend. It's not perfect, and the trim still needs some work, but it's definitely an improvement!!
As the lovely Miss Frazier mentioned in the comments below, we now have evened the family child count and have two boys. Peter Benjamin was born on Saturday and weighed 7 lbs 13 ounces and is 20 inches long. We decided 24 hours was long enough in the hospital and came home last night. All is going pretty well thus far. Anyone wishing to see all the photos can check out my flickr account.
I didn't mean to be a spoiler, but I was excited! He's very handsome (looks just like a newborn Adams). Congratulations; can't wait to meet him in person!
Dingdernit all, I've got to get out more! I just checked in and look what happened while I was off daydreaming! He's a keeper for sure--best wishes to you all.
posted by Terry Oglesby at October 16, 2006 02:53 PM
My goodness. Last I saw you in photos, little Peter was inside! You look just as sweet here as in your pumpkin photos.
Take care and rest lots. So happy for your family...and I love the name too. I know the names of your two youngest and both are so pretty.
A little late to the congrats party, but I'll join in and congratulate you and Justin on the birth of PBj! Praise God for the addition of another precious life to your family.
Well, he could use a good Southern nickname (beside PBj) ... since his name is Peter, how about Bocephas?
I'm definitely late to the party, but congratulations anyway. He looks wonderful, and I just can't get over how fantastic you look 24 hours after giving birth!!! Beautiful all the way around -- and a great name, too. Love to all.
Yesterday I was driving in the car when the two girls got in an argument and began chanting back and forth at each other -- "Naughty Middle Girl" and "Naughty Toddler Girl." Eventually I had enough and told them to knock it off and that the word naughty was no longer to be spoken. Undeterred, the Toddler Girl said, "Okay. Stupid Middle Girl."
So, as the title says, her comprehension is excellent. I just wish her vocabulary weren't so highly developed.
I suppose this is one reason to be glad Jay's speech is coming along relatively slowly... He's not much beyond the pointing and naming stage. No editorial adjectives yet!
Our first born didn't have these kinds of conversations. None of this was learned from parents, but older siblings are very good at teaching their little brothers and sisters things you didn't want them to know -- from climbing to name calling.
It's hard for me to imagine a world without cursive. In school I used it to take notes, answer essay questions and all those sorts of things. When my husband and I were dating long distance for a couple of years, I wrote more long hand letters than e-mails. It was pleasant to sit down and actually put my thoughts on paper. Now, I can't say I write on paper all that much, but I still make out grocery lists, write thank you notes and other things of that sort. I much prefer my cursive to my printing and it flows a lot faster.
The Boy is actually already asking to learn cursive and he can generally read it quite well. I've been thinking about starting him on it in the spring. It's hard to believe some consider it a dying art.
We, too, will be teaching cursive. Alex has already invented his own version of it (which school teachers just don't appreciate) so, like you, I think we'll be starting on that sooner than later.
I kind of wonder how people will learn to sign their names. I grant you checks are a thing of the past for a lot of people (I think I've written a total of five in this calendar year), but loan applications, etc., all take cursive signatures.
Unless we're going back to the "X" signature for everyone.
The Boy was absolutely thrilled with the tooth fairy. He ran into our room bright and early proclaiming that she had come and had left him an ancient dollar coin.
Later he told us that the coin (a 1978 Eisenhower silver dollar) was of the type that Laura and Mary Ingalls might have seen. We're still working on history timelines...
He told his little sisters that the tooth fairy turns herself and her belongings into air to enter the house, turns back into a solid, magically exchanges the tooth for the coin and note, and then turning back into air, slips back out of the house. Sounds even more complicated than going up and down a chimney, but what do I know?
My favorite line of the morning though, has to be, "I love my new dollar. Dollar coins like this are very rare in these post-modern times."
That, of course, is because money is simply the westernized white man's way of dominating the other, that is, when a new paradigmatic hunter-gatherer, naturist ur-man develops, money will be seen for the heuristic, solipsistic, meso-differentia that it is.
And really--with all this excitement over a dollar, is there any need for a $20 tooth fairy? Absolutely Not!! I believe we will summon the same tooth fairy when our turn comes!
Currency is rather passe, when you think about it. That's why most tooth fairies now leave gift cards. Still, it is comforting to know that although such coinage is rare in postmodern society, the seems to be no sense of irony that the tooth fairy still manages to be so ubiquitous.
posted by Terry Oglesby at October 11, 2006 09:58 AM
Our tooth fairy, when she actually gets around to doing her job, alternates between a dollar bill and state quarters.
The Oldest keeps trying to grow up. I remember when The Boy was known as Fang, because at the tender age of 9 months, he only had one tooth. As of yesterday, he is one tooth short.
Since many of his peers lost their first tooth ages ago, he's felt very ready for this day to come and when his tooth finally loosened the excitement was keen. And then the tooth held on for over a month.
Yesterday afternoon as we were talking about the changing of the seasons and I was spinning a globe around our heads, I looked over and noticed that that tooth was hanging crookedly. I took a closer look and saw the incoming tooth poked up half-way behind the baby tooth and I knew it was time to take matters to hand. Despite a few objections, I yanked and after only a slight amount of blood, which The Boy took better than expected, the excitement of the moment took over.
Our tooth fairy is a rather retro one. A first lost tooth is going for a dollar around here. I'd meant to make sure the tooth fairy had a special Sacajawea dollar on hand for the occasion, but I'm afraid the tooth fairy forgot. However, after a bit of digging around, the tooth fairy did find an stash of Eisenhower silver dollars given to her by her grandfather on birthdays long, long ago and she slipped one of those in for The Boy along with a special, perfumed (fairies must smell extra good, afterall) note.
Sniffle. My little boy is so proud of being big, gap-toothed and kind of funny looking. How dare he keep trying to grow up?
Hooray! I was the last in my class to lose a tooth so I was thrilled when my sister (accidentally) kicked it out on the jungle gym. When we couldn't find it in the grass I made my mom write a note to the tooth fairy explaining the situation and attesting to the loss. My first affidavit!
Ah, the moment of "tooth" arrived! I'm guessing that you had to apply a little cleaner to get the silver dollar all shiny, and now the Middle Girl is checking her teeth for possible treasure opportunities. Glad to hear you are still able to homeschool in your last few weeks of pregnancy.
Could the loss of a tooth from a male in the household be an omen for the arrival of a male baby - to fill the gap?!? May you be blessed with a man-child, though a female baby is fine too.
Although, I had no reason to hope, I still got my hopes up that perhaps I'd have a baby over the weekend. NOT. Obviously, I know the child will arrive, but I still can't help hoping for sooner rather than later.
We still haven't picked out names, which seems to bother my friends and family more than it bothers me. I guess I have more faith in our ability to come up with something suitable when the time comes than they do.
Other than the difficulty with names, we did get some of the other little things done to get ready for the kidlet. I bought a baby book, which like those of older siblings will mostly never be filled out. Not wanting to set the standard too high for myself, I've managed to not fill out any baby books after about the first month and I've also managed to only once get a studio portrait taken of a child. We wouldn't want the rest of them to start complaining that I didn't love them as much as baby number one -- so I just striven for an extra low standard for all. Henry Higgins treats a duchess as if she were a flower girl and I try to make sure I make as few differences between my children as possible by doing as little as possible.
We brought the carseat and bassinet down from the attic. I made sure someone will be around to take care of the kids when we go to the hospital. I think we're actually in decent shape for the arrival of a baby. I even vacuumed and cleaned the kitchen floor. I have some food in the freezer for meals after all the ladies from church stop arriving with food. I'm sure there is something I've forgotten, but things seem like they are pretty much as ready as they'll get.
Now we just have to wait around for the big event.
I think I told you this story, but when my fourth son as born we had picked out the name Asher (this was long before Ashton Kutcher, btw.) He came out and everyone in the room said, "What is his name?"
My husband answered, "Asher"
And I looked over at him and said, "I don't think so."
The doctor and nurses all started laughing. But at that moment when I laid eyes on him, I knew it wasn't his name.
The twentieth of October is a lovely day for a birthday, if you ask me. At least I must have thought so a few decades ago.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't even keep up with the baby book for the first baby. This is why I blog. Blogs are much easier for long-distance relatives to access than old fashioned paper books, anyway!
Gift Suggestions and Other Late Pregnancy Rantings
This will come as a surprise to no one, but this baby is due to arrive quite soon. Because of this, I have gotten more than my usual amount of kind, well meaning and annoying phone calls from relatives.
Many of them want to know what we would like to have for the baby. I have a boy and two girls already. All of them have fall birthdays. I save everything. Relatives are left unsatisfied when I say diapers are welcome, but what I'd really like is a spa day or a visit from a house cleaning service. I realize that none of those fit the cute little baby outfit category, but they did ask what I wanted. If this is a boy, I might need clothes -- because I actually haven't saved every outfit The Boy wore seven years ago, but I can't really know that until after the child emerges from the womb -- now can I?
Naturally, they all also want to know the baby's due date. I've been telling them mid-October for nine months now, and again, they are strangely unsatisfied by this response. They all seem to assume that if they ask just one more time, I'll break, give them an actual date and then they can start calling every hour or two on that day to see if anything is happening yet. Obviously that's what I need.
Having left them without the answers they are looking for on the above questions, my relatives move on to the next one. Most of them already wish I'd found out whether the baby is a boy or a girl, but since we haven't -- they want to know what names we've picked out.
In the past, we've always managed to narrow the list down to a few promising first names at least, by this point. Nobody really seems to believe me when I tell them that this time I don't have a list. It is true that I have a front runner in the boy name category, but for girls -- nada. Honest. And as far as middle names go -- nothing. And what if I decide I don't like the boy's name I have in mind. Ooops. No back up plans at this point.
It's true, of course, that I don't much like sharing names before hand anyway. I start hearing from one side or another why name X is horrible. One name I had considered in the past actually inspired a comment from a relative that it was the next "Adolf." Yep, picking names is fraught with tribulations, but since we have none and are having trouble getting started on that subject, I know for sure I don't want to talk about it with even the most well-meaning relative.
At the end of such calls, I always receive a reminder that the relative expects to hear when the baby arrives -- as if we planned not to notify grandparents, great-grandparents and other close relatives.
I expect many, many more such phone calls in the upcoming weeks. I know they care and I know they usually mean well -- but I'd like it better if Merry Maids showed up at the door and I was whisked off to the spa.
"... I'd like it better if Merry Maids showed up at the door and I was whisked off to the spa."
I think you would be hard-pressed to find a woman who would NOT like that, pregnant or otherwise. Besides, isn't that what loving and thoughtful husbands should occasionally do for their wives: draw some bathwater and clean the house while she bathes?
It's a shame you can't set up all of your well-meaning relatives with an RSS feed to announce the arrival of Adams v.4. Then you could have them open up a comments section when they offer more "suggestions".
If you're looking for girl suggestions, I would like to nominate Evangeline. That's probably my second choice, but since you've already rejected Honoria...
Relatives. Sheesh. Especially if that name is the one people around here would say is the next Adolf... Do these people really not understand that there's a difference between someone they dislike/mistrust and someone who systematically executes millions?
Speaking of which, when's the last time you met somebody named "Joe" and asked if he were named for Stalin?
about the name- tell them you're following European tradition and not telling the name until after its born. It's true- I haven't met *anyone* here in France who will tell the name ahead of time!
1) Stop answering the phone. Nothing good can come of telephone conversations.
2) Tell everyone you've decided your Jewish for this baby. Girls get named at the next available Torah reading day, which is Monday, Thursday, or Saturday. It's often pushed off until the next available Saturday, so you'll have some breathing room. Boys, of course, are named at the Circumcision ceremony, so you're guaranteed 8 days of peace.
Although on most occasions The Boy is his father all over again, once in a while I notice that he did get something from me. One obvious trait that is currently appearing is a love of bad puns. He's been busy making up his own jokes related to the months of the year. I'll put the answers below the jump. Feel free to groan, but when one is scraping the bottom of the pun barrel, I think these aren't too bad for a six year old.
The Toddler Girl just went upstairs, picked out her own clothes and brought them down to put on. She wants to wear bloomers, striped socks and boots. I might have to require something on top if we go out, but otherwise, I think the outfit works.
Since I woke up around 3:45 this morning and never got truly back to sleep -- and Benedryl did nothing for me, I think we're going to have to take it nice and easy today. I may or may not have had a lot of contractions last night. You'd think I'd be able to tell by Baby 4.0, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong though.
Well, they told me I was having regular contractions with Jay, but I never felt them. Of course, he never did drop, and they scheduled my c-section. Maybe I'm not a good example, since my babies don't drop. Ever.
Although The Boy is now homeschooled, I still derive a certain amount of pleasure from still being on the Hippy German School listserv. For instance, today I got a message urging parents to get their children involved with the Doctors Without Borders Refugee Camp currently set up in a local park.
After breakfast this morning, I was sitting at the computer when I suddenly felt really faint and like the world was spinning. I lay down and didn't faint, but decided I'd better call the doctor. Apparently, they didn't think it sounded like a good thing, since they told me to go on over to Labor and Delivery for evaluation.
They couldn't really find anything wrong. I'm still dilated about the same as before and having irregular contractions -- I think I had 5 or so in the hour they had me on a monitor -- but nothing to make them want to keep me.
So here I am at home. Hanging out mostly in bed and not doing much. In most ways this has been my easiest pregnancy -- so it seems funny that I've had to run over to the hospital for this one when nothing has ever gone on in any other pregnancy ever before.
Fortunately, all this happened before Justin went to work. He's staying home today so I can rest.
My dear sweet Toddler Girl is soaking up new vocabulary like a sponge. Unfortunately, much of that new vocabularly includes phrases I can't get her siblings to stop saying. She now can chant in a sing-song fashion, "Stupid Brother (or Sister)" and come running up to tell me that someone is spitting/hitting/bothering her. She told me today that her sister was "very naughty."
And then there are the things she says that just come out wrong. Anything that pokes or pinches at her or if a bug (including a butterfly) comes near her, she says, "Bite me." Naturally, she means that something is trying to bite her, but when she proclaims loudly -- and in church, of course -- "Bite me, Mama!" It does tend to garner a snicker or two from those on the surrounding pews.
Jay was trying to say "peek-a-boo" today, but it came out "a poo-poo!" every time. Made me laugh, at least- particularly considering he spent a good part of the morning on his potty trying to poop. Unsuccessfully, but it's the longest I've seen him sit still without being strapped into a carseat!
Jordana Adams, Chief Pontificator